Sail rigging



June 22,1926. 1,589,488

A E. w. SMITH SAIL RIGGING Filed March 24, 1924 Patented .lune 22, 1925. i

UNITED STATES EDWARD XV. SMITH, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA. l

SAIL RIGGING.

Application filed March 24, 1924. Serial No. 701,317. l

This invention has for its object the rigging of a sail in such a manner as to'cause a boat so rigged to make better speed to windward than when rigged in ordinary ways. v

To explain the principles involved, I will first point out the defect in existing rigs, which I propose to remedy, and then the means to be employed to that end.

In the ordinary fore and aft, or schooner rig, which is that most commonly employed for fast sailing vessels in this country and Europe, the larger sails, of which there may be one or more, are rigged in such a way that at its upper edge the sail is fastened to a spar, known as the gaif, which in turnis held in position by a rope tackle `(halyards) and by resting at its lower end against the mast, where it is held in position by the jaws. The lower edge of the sail is fastened to the boom, which'in turn is held usually by universal joint to the mast at the inner end, and by a rope tackle (the sheet) at the The forward edge of the sail of hoops or equivalent, while the sternmost edge, (the leach) is left free.

lhen in action, sailing on'the wind (or tacking) the sheet is hauled close, so that thel boom takes a position nearly parallel to the keel of the boat, and the boat is headed as near into the wind as possible keeping the sail full all the while. If headed too near f into the direction of the wind the'sail shakes,

showing that it is not being fully acted upon by the wind, and the boat quickly loses speed. The critical point in sailing to Windward (or tacking) is thus the closeness to the direction of the wind with which the boat is able to point, While keeping the sail full of wind. The principle is so well understood that further discussion of it is unnecessary.

Further, it is common knowledge among any who have experience in sailing, that the usual fore and aft rig is defective in that the gaff never remains at the same horizontal angle to the keel as the boom, but by reason of having its outer end free always swings out much further, so as to assume a greater angle than the boom. It is quite manifestthat while the boom is quite flat or nearly parallelwith the line of the keel, the gat is decidedly ott the wind, forming a much greater angle (horizontally) with the keel.

' lt is quite plain that the position of the galt is what actually determines how close to the wind it is possible to sail, the sail always shaking slightly below the gai' and near the mast.

The present invention has for one of its objects the rigging of the sail in such a manner that the position of the gatl as well as of the boom may at all times be cont-rolled,

and also the main portion of the sail between Figure l is an elevational view diagram- 'i matically illustrating an embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a top or plan View, and

Fig. 3 is an elevation.

For the accomplishment of the `purpose above set forth, the gaff proper l has its jaws removed and is suspended at a point 2 from an auxiliary gaif 3, which will henceforward be designated as a jack for avoiding confusion. The jack 3 is suspended by halyards 4: as usual, and is free to swing, partially around the mast, upon which it rests by means of its jaws 5. The sail is held between gatf l and boom 7 as usual, but the hoops attaching it to the mast are either lacking, Fig. 2, or are so attached by a. running line 8, Fig. 3, that the luft' of the sail may be either drawn close to the mast, or allowed to slack away perfectly free, at will. A line 9 which may be designated a gaif sheet permits similarly of drawing the lower end of the .gaf close to the mast, or slacking it away as occasion demands.

It is obvious that if the point of suspension 2 of the gaff l from the jack 3 is appropriately placed, when a wind lills the sail from one side, the forward end of the ga-lf will swing to leeward to an extent which may be controlled by the gall' sheet 9; and thus itis possible to control its position and maintain it always approximately in the same plane as the boom. Fig. 2 shows the relative position of the boom, gal' and jack. as viewed from above in line with the mast-i The gatf sheet 9 furnishes the means for maintaining the gal' l substantially in the same plane as the boom 7, or the projections of the gatf and the boom on the horizontal plane make the same angle with the vertical medial plane of the ship. The jack 3 will, of course, swing to leeward, as the gall does in the ordinary fore and 'ait rig; but the gall l and with it the sail 6 may now be held in any desired position.

From the foregoing description itis evident that the boat may be pointed closer to the wind than heretofore while maintaining the sail perfectly full, and that the rig described thus enables a boat to make much bett-er progress to Windward.

It should be noted that when running free, that ifs, with the boomslaclred out considerably, the close alignment or" gall' and boom is not so neccessaryv as when close hauled and that in such case it may be more convenient to pull in the sheet close for the purpose oi' steadying the gall.

Also it should be noted that by making the lull' l0 ol the sail slightly curved, the forward part or the sail may be held more nearly liat, and excessive bagginess pre vented. l am, of course, aware that soine bagginess will always be present and will prevent the maintenance ot all parts of the sail at exactly the same angle with the lreel.

n Fig. l al two masted' vessel is shown, with mainsail and modified jib rigged as described, while the ioresaijl is rigged much as usual, but the galt lEL is controlled by a Y sheet 9a from its extremity (peak) to the adjacent main mast.

It will be noticed that the ordinary 5 square rig largely fulfills the condition oi. controlling the angley of the sails to the keel, at all points. lt is, however, subject to limitations, especially, that the sails cannot be so trimmed as to bring them at all Langeac near parallelism with the keel, and that in tacking it is necessary to brace them around so that for a time they are square to the wind, thus much reducing, if not entirely stopping the headway of the vessel. y

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that modifications may be made in details of construction and arrangement and in matters of mere form without departing from the spirit or" the invention which is not limited as to such matters or otherwise than as the prior art and the appended claims may require.

I claim:

l. In a 'boat a sail free at the fore and art edges thereof, a boom attached at the lower edge or the .sail7 a galt attached at the upper edge or the sail, a. spar from which the gail is hung pivotally, a mast, the inner end of the gatf being clear of the mast, and an adjustable attachment for ljiolding the inner end of the gat in definite and'controllable relation to the mast.

2. In a boat a boom a gaf, means for con trolling the gall, a sail attached tothe boom at its lower edge and to the controllable gait at its upper edge, andl means whereby the edge or the sail adjacent the mast may be drawn close to the mast or made entirely' free therefrom.

3. In a boat a boom, a gall', a sail attached to the boom at its lower edge and to the gait at its upper edge, means Vfor independently controlling the angular position of both boom and gatl, and meansv for haul'f ing the front edge (luft) of the .sail close, to the mast and for letting it oil free, lsubstantially as described'. v

EDVAR'D W. SMITH. 

